Opening and cleaning of fibrous materials



Aug. 15, 1950 'r. w. OWEN 2,518,713

OPENING AND CLEANING 0F FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed April 17, 1947 THOMAS W Attorvigy i atenteci Aug. 15,

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE OPENING AND CLEANING OF FIBRO'US MATERIALS Thomas William Owen, Did'sbury," Manchester,

England, assignor to The British Cotton Industry Research Association, Manchester, England,

a British association Application April 17, 1947, Serial No, 742,657 In Great Britain May 13, 1946 ample, at the stage when it comes directly from 5 the bale, and of the type in which a sloping spiked lattice carries the fibrous material upwards from a bin or hopper to the highest point of the lattice, where a spiked roller, known as an evener roller or regulating cylinder, strikes back a cerl0 of hopper bale openers and hopper feeders for cotton and the invention will be described with specific reference to these machines.

The object of the invention is an improved. machine of the type aforesaid so as to obtain a higher degree of opening and cleaning and dust removal. 7

According to the invention a machine for opening and cleaning fibrous materials comprises a hopper and casing containing a sloped spiked lattice adapted to carry the fibrous material upward and below an evener roller and thence to a heater in another part of the casing, with stripper means for and adjacent to said evener roller and suction means for extracting dust from the upper part of the feed sideof the hopper characterised in that the stripper means for the evener roller consists of a combined rotary suc-. tion cage and stripper whereby dust liberated from the fibrous material by the combined ac-.

tion of the evener roller and its stripper may be more effectively removed by removing it at the region of such liberation and without loss of useful fibre.

The machine aforesaid may be further characterised in that the combined rotary suction 4 5.

cage and stripper comprises a rotary suction cage, flaps on said cage adapted to act as strippers for the evener roller without holding the stripped material and a damper Within the suction cage adapted to confine the suction to the portion of 0 the cage periphery immediately facing the evener roller.

According to a further feature of the invention a machine for opening and cleaning fibrous materials comprises a casing, a beater housed 5 therein and working against dirt bars, and to,

which beater the material is fed by a spiked lat-f tice characterised in that the casing is shaped: without a stripper edge so that only a portion of the material is delivered by the beater for car--' 'rying'forward, and so as to provide a space of sub-' stantial volume above the beater into which the remainder of the material is projected by the beater whereby at least some of it returns to the heater for further beating, means being provided such'as a partition to prevent such projected material from being thrown into the region above the spiked lattice. l The machine last mentioned may be further 5 characterised in that a plurality of beaters is pro-- vided arranged in series each without a stripping edge and so that each beater except the last of the series delivers some of the material forward to the adjacent succeeding beater and projects the remainder of the material into the space above the beaters from which it may return for further beating; or further characterised by'a suction cage arranged to receive that portion of the material from the beater or last heater to be carried forward; or further characterised by at least one suction cage in the space above the heater or beaters for the extraction of dust lib-f erated by the action ofthe beater or beaters pro'-' jecting the material into the said space.

In the accompanying drawings: I

v ig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a machin for opening and cleaning fibrous material accord, ing to this invention; Fig- 2 illustrates diagrammatically a modifica tion of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings, the rearward portion I of the machin constitutes a hopper in which the horizontal lattice 2 feeds the cotton towards a spiked lattice 3. An evener roller 4, with spikes 4 .is located above the spiked lattice 3 and allows a certain proportion of the cotton carried upwards by the lattice to pass forwards while the rest is projected back into the binl These arrangements are usual in hopper openers and in many such machines a stripper is provided for the evener roller. In place of such a stripper a combined high speed suction cage and stripper 5 is provided. The suction cage is provided on; its outer peripherywith leather flaps 5 which,

serve. to strip any cotton which may adhere to the;

teethA of the evener roller 4, and with radial dampers 5 which confine the suction to the por; tion 5 of the periphery of the cage. In the region contiguous tothe evener roller 4, the combined cage andstripper 5 and the upper part of the;

ascending portion of the spiked lattice 3, a considerable amount of dust is liberated, and this is sucked through the perforations of the combined cage and stripper 5. In machines of known kinds a similar liberation of fine dust occurs, but most of this is deposited back on to thecotton in the hopper. In Fig. l i illustrated diagrammati cally a known method of dealing with this liber ated dust, namely, by fan suctionthrough aduct 6 located in the cover of the hopper, The 6&- ciency of such means is greatly impaired by its remoteness from the region the t islib 1 erated; and the amount of "extracted greatly increased by the more efi cti vly' localized suction at the portion of the page}. The

means for localized suction may be adopted either 1 with or without the above mentioned known means in the duct 5. The flaps 5 may be of any other suitable material instead of leather.

flhe cotton which is allowed to pass overthe "est poi nt of the spiked lattice}: coiiies under V b ri i wi h. V V d flaps l which servetos ip'otton from :s'pikes i't i of the spiked latie S and also with spikes l The beater! works against dirt "If and, in respect to its features so'far'described, does not differ essentially from the :kind of beater used in known forms hopper opener. In such known forms, however, the cover fits closely to the beater and is provided with a strip ping to ensure that practically all the cotton acted on by the beater is stripped from it and delivered to such means of furthrconvey ante may be adopted. In the xampl'shown in the drawing a second beater 811s provided withdujt the intervention r a sthtpihg'jede j er the heater and in series with the first, beater, w h the result that cotton delivered by the ust -beater is only in part acted upon hhmeftten by the second beater, the remainderbeing p jected upward'sinto a region 9 provided under a cover I w ch is raisedasubstan-ti al dista'hte atleast equal to the diameter of the beater, as shownin' the drawings above the heaters and has no stripn..; ed e f e second be fi :r that $1 is proyided with spikes 8 and works against dirt l s fr a a .r

The cotton after passing through the state be tween the periphery of the beaterjflanfd the dirt bars 8 comes under the alc'tion o'f a high speed cage Ill. This is provided with radial dampers I0 confining the s'u ction to the region Lllf oi its periphery. Owing to theabsenc'e of a stripping edge for the beater 8, tiny a ptttid'n of thecotton delivered by the beater'B is carried forward immediately by the cage [0, orfalls on to it the cover l l, the remainder being projected intothe region 9, so that it falls back on to either orboth of the beaters. v v v 'Ifheregio'n 9 is bounded above by the portion off tthe cover of the machine. This portionis" shaped to bend downwards from thelevel of the libriz'ontal portion l 2 of the cover overthe evener roller 4 to a point roughly in the level of the high- 'stpoint of the cage I0. V i A As shown in Fig. lot the drawing, an upwardly e ending partition [3 is provided within thecasi that substantially divides the s 'ame intoa ng compartment and a hopper compartm nt said partition having an ,apertur l3 af-f ng limited intercommunication between said part'ments, the upper section jof the partition the aperture [3 being straight and sepam the region 9 from the regioii b'elow the bar ch 12 of the cover in which the vrir' roller e sect on ofithe partition. l3va'riab1' by such rn'ea' s is located while allowing room for the passage of the cotton to the beater l. The upper straight section of the partition occupies, relative to the evener roller a position roughly the same as that occupied in known forms? of hopper feeders by a" vertical portion of the outer cover.

Qwing to the fan action of the heaters 'l and 8 the air in the region 9 is maintained in a state of considerableturbulence, and becomes filled with a mass of cotton in the form of tufts of various sizes, many of which are thrown with considerable violence against the cover H and partition 13;. All this otton is ultimately delivered from the machinebythesuction cage [0, but much of itls subjected two or more times to the action of the heaters l and'B and the cage ID. The violent "agitatii'm'in the space above the heaters, repeated beater action, and cage suction to which the cotton i thus subjected at its several stages gives an opening and cleaning efiect much superior to that obtained with the forrhs or hopper gfion" 9 additioh'to the characteristic features described abdve. fix this modification the cover ped toaccom'modateat H the upper part g g and this i's'provided adjustable radial dampers M which confinet e suction to" the portion [4 of the peripheryofth' cage. 1.

To rh'eet varying requirements, it i's preferable to m ke the depth'of the straight yer'ticalu'pperf as an adjustable pa rtor niifpiece f3 andfltb' provide a means for varying'the position or the terminal edge of the cover ll adjacent to cage to, for exam le, b'y'an adjustable (and ece or by interchangeable end-pieces 'of differ ent shapes andsizes, I

Ideclare'that what'lclairn i s: U w I 1. A machine for opening and cleaning fibrous" material's, comprising a casing, a p'a'r'tition'jd'is;

H posed n saiecasirig' and substantially dividing agrotarr suctioncage havihg stripping the sanieinto'a' beating compartment and a hopper compartment, said partition having an apef' ture affording limited intercornmunication' bietjweeh said compartments, a spiked latticed hf n str y 'q in s i h p c pa tment for carryi'ng fibr'ous' material newt d to t aperture in the'partitio'n, an ev her roller mounted forrot'ation in the hopper compartment above the upper end of the lattice imposition to remove surplus material from the lattice thereby to rile'termine th thickness or material ca ('1 ror'ward dn'the lattice, a rotar 'stripper disposed in; said easingahoy the lattice and adjacent said ve er. ll r i i ret i lefd Slit: plus mate iaitd thesai'd attite, that rotatab e bfeater'an'd dirtflbars' cooperating therewitnd"? iq j i i r h beat n c mp rtme in'bdsitioj'nf 5 receive material rrtmthe spiked lattice through the said aperture, said rotary stripperco mounted on its periphe'ry,,the organization 'g' sut that dust t lib erat'edfroln the heroes mate; rial by thecombined action of the evene'r rol r and said stripper members isfr'emoved by the sat: tion cage at the regionof such l iberation. Y V I g, jar ac ih tceerdihg to laiih 1 saidbeating compartment having an upper Wall at allp oints spaced away frorn the beater a distance at least equal td, the dian'iter of said heater thereby to provide a 's'ubstahtia1 spac bove the heater. 3. A machine according to claim 1, said heating vide a substantial space above the beater, at least one additional beater being disposed in the beating compartment in series with said first beater whereby each beater except the last of the series delivers some of the material forward to the adjacent succeeding beater and projects. the re.- n'i'ainder ofthe .material into the :space abov the beaters from which some of it returns to the said beaters for further beating.

4. A machine according to claim 1, said beating compartment having an upper wall at all points spaced away from the beater a distance at least equal to the diameter of said beater thereby to provide a substantial space above the beater, at least one additional beater being disposed in the beating compartment in series with said first beater whereby each beater except the last of the series delivers some of the material forward to the adjacent succeeding beater and projects the remainder of the material into the space above the beaters from which some of it returns to the said beaters for further beating, a suction cage being disposed in the beating compartment in position to receive material from the last beater for collection and delivery of the material from the beating compartment.

5. A machine according to claim 1, said beating compartment having an upper wall at all points spaced away from the periphery of the beater a distance at least equal to the diameter of the said beater thereby to provide a substantial space above the beater, a high speed suction cage being disposed in the space above the beater in position to extract dust from the material projected into said space by the beater.

6. A machine according to claim 1, said beating compartment having an upper wall at all points spaced away from the beater a distance at least aperture in the partition, an evener roller mountr ed for rotation in the hopper compartment above the upper end of the lattice in position to remove surplus material from the lattice thereby to determine the thickness of material carried forward on the lattice, a rotary stripper disposed in said casing above the lattice and adjacent said evener roller in position to return the said surplus material to the said lattice, and a rotatable beater and dirt bars cooperating therewith disposed in the beating compartment in position to receive material from the spiked lattice through the said aperture, said beating compartment having an upper wall spaced away at all points from the periphery of the beater a distance at least equal to the radius of the said beater thereby to provide a substantial space above the beater, and a high speed suction cage disposed in the said space of the beating compartment above the beater in position to extract dust liberated by the actio'np. of.theibeater projecting 1 the material mm the'said space.

18; A machine for opening andcleaningfibrous;

materials,-, comprising a. casing, a partition disposed'inzsaid; casing and. substantially dividing thesameinto a beating compartment and a hopper compartment, said partition having an aperture .afiording. limited intercommunication between said compartments, a spiked lattice disposedxinslopingposition in said hopper compartment for carrying fibrous material upward to the aperture in the partition, an evener roller mounted for rotation in the hopper compartment above the upper end of the lattice in position to remove surplus material from the latter thereby to determine the thickness of material carried forward on the lattice, a rotary stripper disposed in said casing above the lattice and adjacent said evener roller in position to return the said surplus material to the said lattice, and a rotatable beater and dirt bars cooperating therewith disposed in the beating compartment in position to receive material from the spiked lattice through the aperture, said beating compartment having an upper wall spaced away at all points from the periphery of the beater a distance at least equal to the diameter of the said beater thereby to provide a' substantial space above the beater and a high speed suction cage disposed in the said space of the beating compartment above the beater in position to extract dust liberated by the action of the beater projecting the material into the said space.

9. A machine for opening and cleaning fibrous materials as set forth in claim 7, at least one additional beater being disposed in the beating compartment in series with said first beater whereby each beater except the last of the series delivers some of the material forward to the adjacent succeeding beater and projects the remainder of the material into the said space above the beaters from which some of it returns to the said beaters for further beating.

10. A machine for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, comprising a casing, a partition disposed in said casing and substantially dividing the same into a beating compartment and a hopper compartment, said partition having an aperture affording limited intercommunication between said compartments, a spiked lattice disposed in sloping position in said hopper compartment for carrying fibrous material upward to the aperture in the partition, an evener roller mounted for rotation in the hopper compartment above the upper end of the lattice in position to remove surplus material from the latter thereby to determine the thickness of material carried forward on the lattice, a rotary stripper disposed in said casing above the lattice and adjacent said evener roller in position to return the said surplus material to the said lattice, and a rotatable beater and dirt bars cooperating therewith disposed in the beating compartment in position to receive material from the spiked lattice through the said aperture, said beating compartment having an upper wall spaced away at all points from the periphery of the beater a distance at least equal to the diameter of the said beater, said partition having an adjustable part for varying the size of its aperture.

11. A machine for opening and cleaning fibrous materials as set forth in claim 7 and including at least one additional beater disposed in the beating compartment in series with the first or receivlng beater whereby each beater except the Iasfi' oi? 'the: series; delivers: some 01? the. material forward to the adjacent succeeding beater and projects the remainder: o-fthe material; into the said space above the heaters; frem, which. some of;

it returns to: the said heaters forfunther beating- 5 THOMAS OWEN. V 10- 21416598;

Number i 8': ikEEERENCES (21mm) The follewin r nei x nces ar Qi reeqrd i El e; file; off patepj; T

STATE? BATE-N12 Name. Date, v

$52,552: Eberhardt May 19,1891. --];,856-,28'L Nuttal]. et a1 .Ma.y 3.-,..L932; 2-;009;65% Henry ..Ju1y; 30; 1935;

Rogers Feb. 7,1939; 

